The invention relates to a tumble dryer, particularly for at least partially drying laundry using substantially unheated ambient air, comprising a drum, also called tumbler, that is rotatably positioned for containing laundry, and an air inlet system for supplying air to the drum, wherein the air inlet system has a first air inlet for sucking in air.
Such a tumble dryer is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,340,848. Said document describes a tumble dryer provided with a drum in which wet laundry can be blown dry by unheated ambient air to be supplied near a first head-end side of the drum and to be discharged near a second head-end side of the drum facing away from the first head-end side.
A drawback of said tumble dryer is that when the tumble dryer is being used in an interior room, the air humidity of the interior room increases and as a result the ambient air to be supplied will also have a higher air humidity, which may even exceed the air humidity outside of the house, to the detriment of the efficiency of the drying process. Said tumble dryer therefore is only suitable to be placed outside of the house.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved tumble dryer that preferably can be placed inside the house for drying laundry in a drum using ambient air, without heating said air prior to supplying it to the drum, wherein for drying clothes optimal use can be made of the ambient air.